Bus Times
by FriendsForevaa
Summary: "In which Gray is a shut-in otaku. He always had trouble with people but one particular event left a permanent scar on his heart, leading him to never trust anyone again. It continued until he met someone. " An original GrayLu fanfic. On indefinite HIATUS.
1. Life Of An Otaku

_**Disclaimer - **I don't own Fairy Tail, desu._

_**Summary -**"In which Gray is an otaku and somewhat of a shut-in. He always had friendship problems but one particular event brought him to mistrust others. It felt like it would last this way forever, not until he meets someone, and meets someone who might change him... Or maybe not." A__ GrayLu AU multi-chaptered fanfic._

**_Genres -_**_ Romance, Humour, Hurt/Comfort, Slife-of-life_

**Rating - T **_(for angst and hurt/comfort themes. I am aiming for more friendship and society-related one so yup, it's gonna be different)_

* * *

**_Prologue_**

_Life Of An Otaku_

Staring at the computer screen endlessly, a young guy sat on a chair in the corner of a brightly lit room. He had multiple tabs opened at the same time as his fingers moved fast at the speed of lightening. As he rolled over the mouse to click open the last tab and closed it, he put on a sheepish smile of satisfaction. Sighing in relief, he pushed back and relaxed his tense muscles.

_"Finally done, huh..."_

He passed a hand through his spiky cerulean hair, absent-mindedly gawking into empty space. He had a strange smile put over his face for a while now.

_"This week, she really shone, didn't she?"_

He grinned as he got lost in his own thoughts; thoughts about her, about him and their possible life together. He clicked his tongue with joy, as he started feeling overfilled with the endless possibilities.

_"That girl..."_

_._

_._

_._

**_To Be Continued..._**

* * *

** Writer's Corner**

_Otaku - You probably know. People who have a hardcore hobby most likely anime, manga, light novels, visual novels etc. _

_Arghhh, this has got to be the most stupid story ever. I hope it turns out good xD This is sort of an AU which is a mixture of school and the same magical concept but with a different timeline and events. It is going to be a bit crazier than my other stories... maybe._

_Anyways please review :)_


	2. Flashbacks

So the 1st chapter is already up, enjoy ^^

_**Note** \- Guys, the 2nd part is heavily edited. I think, you should read it again, this is almost a different story now, the kind I wanted. So pleaseeee read it again, I would be very grateful ^^_

* * *

**_Chapter 1_**

_Flashbacks_

As far as the aforementioned condition of the ice maker was concerned, blame it on his life. He had gone through a lot. His life had been a true roller coaster, the one without any wheels.

**_._**

**Kid Gray - 1-3 years old.**

Gray, the son and one of the three heirs of Fullbuster family which was known as one of the most privileged magic using families in the area. Shortly after his birth, his father had gotten vanished off to somewhere, never to be heard again. Regardless of this, he was never deprived of love, his mother happily did both roles for him. He was an healthy child whom everyone adored. He was just that cute with his puppy-dog eyes, dark blue hair and fair features: no one could resist his cuteness and would immediately want to hold him as soon as they would get their hands over him. It continued this way, not until he put on some weight and got_ heavier _as he grew.

The kid Gray was known for his weird verbal inventions and not-so-ordinary behaviour. Ever since he had started speaking, he had nicknames for most of the things he had an encounter with. Like in the case of sheep, he would call it _"maa", _just 'cause it sounded like so. Similary, for mountain, he preferred to call it _"tall ground". _Why? It's huge and yet still part of land, duh.

He had an awful habit of hitting almost anyone on the face, but only if anyone teased him. Due to his awfully firm hand at such a tender age, he was feared so no one ever dared teasing him.

He was absolutely loved by his siblings, i.e. Ultear Fullbuster and Lyon Fullbuster who had prayed their asses off to God for a lovely brother. As soon as their wishes were answered, their happiness had no bounds. They often had (cat)-fights on '_who-is-gonna-hold-Gray'_ as soon as they came home from the school, only to see a crying Gray who had apparently gotten annoyed to see their fight. At such moments, not knowing what to do, they both would try to babysit him but fail to accomplish anything. At such times, Ur, their mother would come and calm the raven-haired kid down as the other two would get lectured real bad.

**Child Gray - 4-9 years old.**

The ice maker started going to a well-known magical academy. As predicted, he was good at school-work, doing almost all of his homework without anyone ever telling him to do so. As a result, he was admired a lot and often told as an example to other kids. Unfortunately, the child wasn't particularly fond of speaking as much as to be told. He would rather be quiet, and speak as less as possible, often gesturing for a 'yes' or 'no' and speaking only when the circumstances demanded it.

He was considered to be one of the good kids in his classroom, but due to rarity of speeches, he was often alone and had almost no friends to be with. But it never really bothered him, at times he would want to have one but then again, he had his '_lacrima computer'_ which he adored to death.

As he reached an age of 6, he performed his first spell, which was, as expected, an icy one. It was nothing big, but still quite earlier for a kid to perform one which was a hint of his possible adeptness at the element. Pleasantly surprised, his mother started training strictly under severe conditions. During this process, he had inherited an awful habit of stripping down to his boxers. _Quite a freaky habit._

**Child-but-not-quite-a-child Gray - 10 - 13 years old.**

He transferred to a new academy which went by the name _"Fairy Tail", _the same one which Lyon and Ultear were studying currently. Quite surprisingly, on his first day, he bawled once he reached home. His sister and mother got worried and rushed towards him.

Ultear thought, maybe the school was too tough for as him as it was on a much higher level as compared to his old one.

Ur reflected, maybe he was having friendship problems.

And then they were told the _unreasonable_ reason. Apparently, the school remains open way too late as compared to his old one.

His sister sweat-dropped, and tried to comfort him but never really succeeded. As the weekend came to an end, a_ "happy-than-ever" Gray_ came home, grinning excitedly. Surprised to see him like this, his sister once again asked out of curiosity, the reason of his happiness. And she would her find herself jaw-dropping as the youth would tell her that apparently, the school offers two holidays instead of just one, so all in all, he ended up liking his new school.

_Such a simple reason could make him happy.  
_

In his new school, he met a pinkette dragon slayer whom he considered too stupid for his own good. The dragon slayer would continuously pester him around, and wouldn't listen at all whenever he would tell him that he didn't want to be his friend.

Then one day, _something happened_ and the pinkette won him over.

Tired. gave up. The pink-haired mage was too stubborn. Maybe it was just for his own good. Albeit a little annoying, he was relieved to find someone after so many years of being along. And so he grabbed his hand and hence, a legendary friendship and rivalry was born.

Shortly after this, he became friends with the fiery swordmaster, Erza and tarot-card mage, Cana, easily befriending rest of the gang to his surprise.

Still, Gray wasn't the type to make friends easily. He was friendly but not to the extent that he would make friends with anyone right at the spot. He would rather be with them for a while, study them and then take the relationship any further. So as a result, he had a lot more_ acquaintances_ than_ friends. _

On a positive note, he had proven himself to be a good friend several times, like those countless times, he helped the fire-breather with his summer homework.

In his heart, he was much more of an indoor person than outdoor, and would rather to be with his close friends and family than strolling in a crowd. In other words, an_ introvert._

On a whole, he had grown to be a likeable and fun person whom anyone could rely on. He would end up joiningthe brawls, his best friend would drag him into.

As the stripping habit kept intensifying, unknown to him, a small fan-club had formed.

**_Teenage Gray - 14-15 years old._**

On his path to be an adept mage, the raven-haired ice maker had enhanced his abilities to a much greater extent, became more powerful and was no doubt, among the top 10 of his academy. Often praised for his battling style which was more about a balance on his mental and physical abilities, the youngster was proving to be an upcoming force to be reckoned with. He was on a par with his eternal rival, they would compete all the time. While in physical battles, they would barely outdo each other but everyone knew, Gray was smarter so academical performances so things were in his favour. Although he could still do better, Gray found out that he wasn't fond of coming at first position. He didn't quite like fame and the consequences it brought.

Jealousy. envy. hate.

He would rather stay a step behind, and so he did. Eventually, he wasn't giving quite as much of an effort as he was able to.

_"It wouldn't make much of a difference on others," _or so he thought.

On one evening, walking home with his eternal rival, he ended up blurting out some details on this particular part of his personality. When the flame mage found out about this in one of the conversations he shared with ice maker, he stunned on his mark.

For a moment, his face darkened and then all the ice maker could saw was a furious punch headed towards him. He fell to the ground, taking the unexpected blow. He was confused at this all. "_Why was he causing such a fuss over such a small thing?," _he thought.

_"I don't want to be friends with some half-hearted bastard!" _he heard.

He hadn't seen this coming. Maybe that's what had added to the pain. He thought, he had finally made a friend who understands him. He treasured their friendship to a great extent.

But maybe, no one understood him after-all.

So he returned the favour by hitting him with the same fury. In this way, a brawl started out. It continued till they collapsed on the ground, all exhausted amidst the sunset.

On that day, Gray was the one to win. But inside his heart, he had lost it all.

_"I would rather not be friends with the likes of you."_ He hissed.

And then walked away.

This proved to be a turning point in his life. Gray changed. On his exterior, he would behave the same, but deep inside, he knew he was just acting. He felt like, he had become a liar. He had stopped trusting others, even his comrades. He always put up a strong front, but on his inside, he was fallen apart.

Ultear felt it. Ur felt it. Lyon felt it.

But despite all their efforts, no one could bring the old Gray back. The Gray who was always ready to help everyone, who was positive about everything, who was cheerful; became dark and cynical all of a sudden. He wasn't showing to be so, but they were his family. They knew more about him and understood him more than outsiders could. Even Natsu felt it, but he had his manly pride on his side, so he turned a blind eye to this.

It clearly wasn't a nice development on Gray's part.

**Gray - 16 years old - A month ago.**

On the graduation day, everyone was sad and regretful. How they are going to stay away from each other now. Gray only posed to be so. Actually, this wasn't what you could exactly call '_graduation'_. The classes of 11th and 12th grade of their high school life were going to be held in another branch in another city which wasn't_ too_ far from theirs. He knew that all of them were going to be around so crying your eyes out felt pointless to him. It was another thing that he was going to miss the academy, he had spent so many years in.

_So many memories. _

It was the place where he made his first friend.

_Who betrayed him._

And he was unable to stop the increasing urge of hitting his head against a wall.

As he was thinking so, his eyes caught a dragon slayer who was practically attacking the food. He was biting on a chicken-leg one minute and then gulping down juice next moment. He eyed towards him too. For a moment, the eye-contact lasted, not until the fire mage turned his head away, hinting a _"Hmph"._

All he could do was really smash his head into a wall.

.

As school was closed for summer holidays, he was having quite a few months of free time now. His main hobby had been net-browsing for a while now but ever since his graduation, he had been like practically glued to the screen. He would stay up late at night, doing his otaku tasks.

_No matter how much he tried to live it, his life had became tasteless in all honesty._

Until he saw someone, and felt a change in himself. Kitsune Monika, she had the most beautiful smile in the world. Kind and caring, although it wouldn't look like it but she was always helping others behind the screen. She didn't demand things in return. She was true to herself, very down to the earth.

_Maybe, he saw a part of himself in her. _

At first, it felt to him that it was just an attraction, a silly one to be exact. But then he felt that with each appearance of her in his favourite anime character would make him smile unintentionally. He would find himself cheering for her involuntarily. Just like him, she didn't have the most remarkable past. How she was always so hard. How she was always cheerful arounds. At the same time, she had difficulties involving relationships.

Her insecurities, her fears, he could feel them all. Wasn't he the same? Didn't he have been betrayed too?

_"Maybe, she could bring him back to life?"_

As time passed on, he felt his feelings becoming more and more clearer. Waiting for her appearances each week became enjoyable and painful all at the same time.

She really was like him.

_Lost. Lonely. Heartbroken. _

He felt her to hold his other half, a piece of puzzle who could complete him. He knew it was stupid, she wasn't even real. They didn't even live in the same world. Yeah, she was just an**_ anime characte_r,** a mere imaginary sketch_._ But knowing it all, he fell for her.

_And fell for a girl, who would eventually find her prince._

Monika found a_ love interest._ Yeah, she fell for a guy in the very same anime. The day he found out this, was probably the most difficult day of his life. She was supposed to be reason to live, but now, just looking at her with another guy was painful to him.

He was feeling disgusting. He could see himself as an idiot. Afterall, didn't he have all the marks spot on? He fell for an anime character, tried to find a way with her, and when she left, he shed tears in the dark.

_Pathetic._

In the end, he decided to give her all his support. He was a man, after all. He wasn't giving up on her yet, if he got the chance, he would travel to her world and steal her away, any minute. But for now, he wanted to support her. He wanted to treasure that smile.

He had no idea where his life was going. It felt so meaningless and worthless. He would trade his crazy life for a normal one any day.

**_Current Gray_**

Lying on his bed, the ice mage was all wrapped in the bed-sheet. The calender read _27th August_ with the next date marked with a red pointer. It was a chilly night just after a quick rain, as everyone enjoyed their sleep. The same could not be said for the raven-haired mage who was lying motionless. He had been deep in thought for a while now, thinking about_ her._

"Seriously, how long I am gonna stay like this?" Gray screeched.

"What's done is done... It was just a stupid love and now I am out of it." He tried to reassure himself.

He tried to stand up but losing his balance, fell on the bed once again.

_"Damn it!" _

Silence spread everywhere He was listening to the ticking of clock very keenly. Sighing, he covered his eyes with his rugged hand.

Tomorrow was going to be start of his new academic life. To be honest, he had no idea, how was he going to handle it. He had been a_ near_ shut-in for a while now. Will he be al right? Will he even show up tomorrow?

"No way... I had enough...!" He gritted his teeth, clenching his fist as the images of his life-so-far passed through his eyes. He didn't want to feel the same again. He wanted to live happily. He wanted to hope for a better tomorrow, but he didn't know how to.

As his inner feelings started to boil up, he sighed once again. Frustrated, he gave up. As his eyes started to feel heavy, he decided to leave it all on God, praying one wish repeatedly in his mind.

_"Please God, let this new life of mine bring me back to reality...!"_

_._

_._

_._

**To be Continued...**

* * *

**Writer's Corner**

_Soo, how was it? This is going to be one of those 'a-bit-of-everything' type of stories, I guess. As I said before, I wasn't happy with the pre-version of it so feeling very satisfied now._

Anyways,** please review **to tell me how stupid it was ;)


	3. Let The Bus Times Begin!

_Thanks so much for the positive reviews, you are awesome and I'm doing this for you! ;) This chapter is dedicated to **PrincessOfTheSakura**, she is the biggest supporter of this story and she motivated me to write the 2nd chapter so thanks again princess :)_

_So this chapter and few onwards will be slice-of-life-ish with a slight focus on comedy. Hope you guys have fun :) _

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**Let The Bus Times Begin!**

The night passed quickly and a new day arrived. The ice mage was able to sleep soundly, to his surprise. He expected himself to feel more restless and uneasy as it was going to be a long time since his last time around his friends. A new life was going to begin and with it, a new chapter of the story of his life going to begin— It would've been wrong to _not_ say that he was feeling a bit of hope inside him. He wasn't exactly motivated either. Part of him was hopeful about this new routine of his, but a part of him still wanted to remain the very same. Lazy. Unproductive. Indolent.

He went in his world of thoughts, a mixture of feelings bursting inside him. Whether he should look forward to it or not. Whether he should expect something or not.

His cell phone rang, and the bubble of thoughts popped. He had gotten a message from someone. It had been a long time since had last gotten one.

At the start of his summer vacation, he was regularly in-contact with his supposed-to-be friends, but gradually it went all down. His replies would always be lazy and minimalistic. He didn't trust them when they said they miss had been a long time since he was done believing that. Eventually, he changed his number so he could cut ties with everyone for an indefinite period of time. He wanted to be alone and didn't want to associate with others.

But today, after a long time, he had turned back on his old number, just because circumstances demanded it no matter what. As a result, his mobile phone had been ringing a lot. He closed his eyes.

.

_"Long time no see, Gray. Hope you are well and wish you good luck on your new life." _

No doubt, it was Erza. Very stoic but still, thoughtful comment on her side. Wait, there was more to her message.

_"And I am going to kill you later for not showing your face for so long. Hopefully, you will show me the result of your training, more like slacking."_

He felt a cold shiver travelling through his spine. The Scarlet was too fearsome for her own good.

_"Erza's scary... Moving on to next."_

_._

"_Gray-sama—"_

Hai, enough. He turned off his cell-phone for a while— not until he felt bad for the blunette.

_"Juvia loves you very much and she misses you a lot. you will come today, right? Right? Right?" _

He stared at the screen blankly. Somehow, her response felt so amusing, that he was unable to hold back his smirk.

_"Typical Juvia huh..." _He thought, as he pressed the buttons rapidly, checking the next 7 messages from few of his classmates, until his eyes caught few specific ones.

.

"Good morning, Gray. Hope you are having fun. Haven't you been?"

It was from Mirajane, the class representative and the former school idol. Ah, that angel face. No doubt, he could feel the tranquility— He felt his former statement slowly proving to be false as he read onwards. Not until, his face started sweating.

"I shouldn't_ punish_ you, right? Especially after you've been a _good_ boy so long. Don't be ready for a pleasant _lesson_ from me at all. I will treat you gently as I've always been—"

Hai, he didn't want to read the rest of the hidden cruelness any more. There were two demons to handle and his lack of training wasn't going to help much.

.

_"New life is MANLY!"_

"There you go, it's Elfman. And as usual, he isn't making much sense."

.

"Hey Gray and don't expect me to ask your well-being. I can be mad too, you know. Books aren't the only thing I love, you know."

It was Levy there and her message had left him sweat-dropping a little, mostly at her_ "little-to-no-sense-making" _text. Who brings books in out of random when you are texting someone any ways.

.

_"Gray... Bleurgh."_

"It's Cana, isn't it? And who expresses the feeling of sickness when they text someone!" He shouted in his mind.

_"Dude, I am gonna choke down some wine into your throat today. Hope are you ready for that." _

"Wine is all she talks about!"

.

He pressed upwards to check some other guys out, including a silent text from Gajeel and an angry-looking smiley from Lisanna.

_"Yeah yeah, who sends silent texts and smileys any ways." He uttered, rolling his eyes._

_._

Checking such a large amount had started to annoy him. His nerves popped up as he went through countless repeated sentences, many threats and few out-right death wishes. But it couldn't be falsified that he was enjoying it. It had been such a long time since talked with others. Even communicating with a couple dozen of people was indeed tiring, but it felt good, trying to live his old life once life which he had abandoned. The life he was done with.

Although he wouldn't admit it but deep in his heart, he wanted a text from certain someone more than anything— A text from that _stupid_ _dragon slayer_ and apology would make him feel so much better. He wanted that but It never came. He felt disappointment filling all the way to the core of his heart.

He was on the last text moe. He gulped the uneasy feeling down and and thumbed it with frustration. It could be that idiot's. He didn't even how he would react if it would've been.

He pressed it down nervously, but felt sheer waves of dismay throughout his body.

It wasn't his it the end.

For a moment, he wanted to plop down on the bed and never wake up. He was in a serious confusion right now. On one side, he was happy that his friends were worried about him. For a moment, he felt genuinely happy, seeing them worried about him. It awakened a slumbering feeling inside him, something which he hadn't been touch in for a while now. He thought, he could finally go all out.

But the flame-breather managed to crush down all his willpower.

_"So pathetic..."_

He remained silently in that position, one with the flowing time. As he moved sluggishly to change his position, he unintentionally looked at the clock. For a moment, he narrowed down his eyes to check what he was saying, really was real.

And then he realized, he was getting late, too late. He freaked out.

_"Damn it Natsu, you owe me more than one thing now!"_

He yelled, jumping out of his bed. He had no plans for such an hectic morning but now that it had come to it, he just had to go out with it. In his hurry, he even forgot to say goodbye to his love_— Monica, _as he had planned.

As he sprinted outside, barely avoiding the wall and sneaking past a sleepy Lyon, who was apparently still sleeping, mentally al teast.

"Hey Gray_—" _He stated, startled.

"Sorry Lyon, later!" Gray howled, turning back as he ran all across the home, trying to get his things. He put on his uniform which consisted of a grey pair of pants, a white collered shirt, and a multi-coloured tie. He knew, he was going to lose it sooner or later any ways, but who cared.

"Mum, I am going now!" He screamed on top of his lungs.

"I didn't expect_— _You are going?— Atl east, have breakfast_—" _She shot multiple questions at him, feeling happy and surprised at the same time.

"Mum's right, Gray. Have some food_—" _Ultear added in, who had been observing him for a while now.

"Nah, first day today and I can't be late!" He informed furiously, wearing his socks.

"Seriously, you_— At least wake on time." _Ur reflected, enjoying this after a long time. Gray used to be late at his old school occasionally, and just like this, she would lecture him. She was reminiscing it all.

"Sorry." Gray apologized hurriedly, putting on the final piece which happened to be a pair of black shoes.

And all she could do was smiled sweetly at her son. Watching him in high spirits after a long time had calmed her heart. Her heart had been

By this time, the sleepyhead Lyon had properly woken up and joined the rest of his family who were keenly observing the_ out-of-ordinary-excited_ younger ice maker.

"Okay bye." Gray waved his hands at them as if ready to teleport.

"Bye Gray!" Lyon stated, all smiley-eyed.

"Hey! He said goodbye to me, not to you!" Ultear snapped, gesturing at Lyon aggressively.

"Nah, never in world." Lyon swayed his hand carelessly.

And then the good ol' cat-fight started but none managed to emerge victorious.

"Seriously, you two... Be happy for your brother." Ur said calmly, grabbing the two trouble-children by their neck.

"... Mother... Forgive us..." They whimpered, barely breathing.

She fulfilled their desperate wish, heaving a sigh. A short moment of blessed silence passed, as they both kept gawking at the figure of their younger brother who was running with the speed of lightening.

"I hope that guy can move on now." Ultear stated, smiling.

"For the first time in my life, I will agree with you." Lyon cocked a smirk.

"You— " The female mage gritted her teeth at the very sight of her annoying brother and all she could she was, him mimicking her and it pissed her off to no ends.

And so another brawl started, one of those endless ones. And this time Ur decided to leave them on their own. She was a little to pleased at her younger son's actions earlier.

_"But really... I hope you can finally get life now, you idiot son of mine." _She whispered, beaming the most motherly smile she could manage.

"By the way, you two... You have school too, you know." Ur pointed out, narrowing her eyes.

.

.

.

"SO WE FORGOT TOO!" They screamed in unison.

* * *

**xxx**

.

Gray ran, ran and ran. That's all he could remember. _6 minutes_ were all he had so he had no secondary option available.

He got past tons of buildings, evaded a few cars and barely avoided running over a cat which jolted away in a frenzy.

_"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"_ He cursed a thousand times as he froze the ground and began to glide on it. This wasn't how he planned it be. It was supposed to start_ smoothly_ and _slowly_, not _painfully_ and_ madly_.

As he straddled past a corner, he turned to the right on the wide road and there it was - The bus stop.

He placed his hands over his knees, breathing heavily.

_"Thank's God..."_

He had managed to made it in time, which added to his bewilderment. Though his shirt had disappeared somewhere on the way. A few metres away, standing were his friends, all eyeing him towards them as if hinting him that the bus was going to leave.

And some of them had the most horror-inducing eyes in the world, he had ever seen. Like they were saying,

_"Come here~ Come to hell~"_

Swallowing his saliva, he started to make his way through the crowd slowly. There were heaps of students around, all dressed in the same fashion, but each with their own unique style. Some stood, sharing lively conversations while others sat in the buses, ready to drive away.

He was a bit taken aback, not ready to face the new world he was about to dive in. Everyone looked amazing on their own. Everyone was stylish. Confident. Buoyant. Vigorous.

As compared to them, he felt nothing: so out of place, like he were a stray flower which had grown on a deserted road. The countless productive activities they might have spent their vacations doing. What had he done? Fell in love with anime character? Got nearly confined in hos own home?

_Nonsense._

Now that he was near his friends, even they felt brilliant. Each had grown, and became even better then they already were.

Erza seemed to have grown even more as a leader. Mirajane seemed more of an ideal material than she had ever been. Levy had more of an intellectual aura around her than before. Elfman had became, well, _manlier. _

He felt a slight case of inferiority complex arising inside him, something he couldn't blame others for. He was the one who chose to be like this. _He_ decided this for himself, not the other way around. Everyone was expecting him to rush towards them but his feet had frozen somehow. He clearly wasn't ready for this.

"Hey, you are blocking the way." Someone shouted.

_"Ah— Sorry." _He apologized quickly but instead of stepping aside, stepped forward instead.

"Gray! The bus is leaving!" Erza informed as she hopped on.

"When did you become such a slowhead." Gajeel stated, following the redhead.

"Seriously— How long are gonna keep us waiting..." Cana swished, quickly followed by a "smiling-like-devil" white-haired mage, lip-syncing him a code message which was not too difficult to un-code.

_"I'm gonna kill you."_

And all he could feel was, another shuddering cold all the way to his feet.

Her younger sister, Lisanna gave him an apologetic look before she hopped on as well.

"Arghhhh, I just gotta do it!" He mumbled, his feet leaving the ground and landing on the solid base of the magical vehicle.

Finally, he was on-board. He moved his eyes swiftly as if searching for a seat. He felt nervousness popping on his face as everyone stared at him like he was some kind of alien about to bring destruction to their dear planet.

Breathing unsteadily, he started taking quick, short steps through the narrow passage leading to his group. For a moment, he felt witnessing_ a_ beautiful shade of_ blonde_ hair. He felt an urge building up inside him, the urge to look up but the pressure of his friends felt too much, who were gaping him like lions ready to aim at their prey. Out of hesitation, he didn't dare turn back.

"W-wait guys, we can talk about this peacefully—" He stuttered.

He _tried_ really, it ended up just a mere_ try_ as they didn't listen to his blabbering at all.

He was ordered deviously to sit in between the two demons, he was trying his hardest to avoid to. Everyone was eyeing at him like they were some otherworldly forces ready to chomp him down and eat him up. The demonic sisters shared a terrifying eye-contact and gestured him to sit at the vacant spot.

So he obeyed them.

Sweating rains, he seated in between them and the next thing, he saw coming was, a couple of hands strangling him to death. Others just sat there, smirking like vampires, except Juvia who posed to be a tigress instead.

His heartbeats were uncontrollable by now. His hair were moist with sweat, his hands were trembling and his eyes struck wide open.

And all he could shout out in his mind was,

_"Oh, brother... Just what I have gotten myself into?!"_

.

.

.

**August 28th**

_"Today The Bus times began. It was the start of happiness, excitement and so many feelings. It felt like it would last forever."_

_._

**... To Be Continued...**

* * *

**Writer's Corner**

_Oh wow, here we go again... Another chapter went, not the way I planned it to go... And here I thought, I am feeling inspired today._

_So yeah, Gray isn't in the best of the possible conditions right now. He might be dead at this rate. Who knows. xD_

**_Please. please. please. review! :)_**


	4. The Girl I Just Saw

_Hi there, guys! _Thanks to all the reviewers, you really made me happy and motivated ^^ _Sorry for being late but I had my exams... Anyways, let's stop the gloomy talk and get started with the chapter ^^_

_Its now** Beta-read by - **Nora57_

* * *

**Chapter 3 **

_The Girl I Just Saw..._

.

.

.

The next thirty minutes passed on without any words. The atmosphere around the group was dark, too dark. Gray was wary of his friends, hoping they won't just throw him out of window. And they could do that, expecting him to show the results of his training. At least, Erza could do.

"We're here. Let's go, guys." Erza ordered and rest followed, standing in queue.

"Wait- What about me?" The ice mage made a plea.

"Gray-sama. J-juvia wants to stay but please understand.." The water mage sniffed.

"Be quiet, Juvia. It is this guy's punishment." Erza said furiously.

"Geh!" Gajeel exclaimed while Juvia hiccupped.

"Mira-san...?"

"Nani Gray? Do you need my help for something?" Mira smiled evilly, face darkening.

"N-nothing... Have fun..." He replied slowly.

"I see. That I will be_ sure_ to have." She smiled once again, moving on.

All he could do was, sweatdrop.

"Gomen, Gray." Lisanna stated slowly, being the last one in line.

"Don't be..." Gray uttered quietly.

Soon, everyone in the bus left and before he realized, he was all alone. Almighty king of the bus.

"AT LEAST SHOW ME THE WAY TO MY CLASS!" Gray howled suddenly, breathing heavily.

.

"So what do I do now..."

And then without any further delay, he stripped.

* * *

**xxx**

_7:45 AM_

"This is bad. The worst." He complained to himself, hands in pockets.

His face looked pale and his facial bones were not in proper shape. All in all, he looked no better than a zombie. Finally, he had found his class room. He couldn't thank God less.

The moment he stepped inside, the class went silent. For a moment, all eyes were on him. The atmosphere grew tense and the ice mage felt a wave of nervousness run through his body. After he walked past the front row, everything went back to normal. He looked around and sighed relentlessly.

Sparkling faces. Cheery smiles.

He hated (most) humans. They looked happy but they didn't. They would use anything for their advantage and once they did, they would throw it away carelessly, not caring if it is a person or object.

His classmates too looked fake, their smiles looking hollow. They were just pretending.

It was the first day of their college life together so there was that. The desire to look the best. The need to get along well with others just because others wouldn't cast them away. They didn't want to be outcasts. It was a primary human nature and he knew it better than anyone else.

He hated it. All he could do was, grit his teeth.

But hatred wasn't all he felt. There was a tiny mixture of envy and jealousy in it too. Who knew what kind of training they did in the last few months. All he did was, played heaps of RPG games and watched tons of anime. He felt pathetic.

He passed row after row. All of the seats were occupied. The only thing he could find was, beaming faces, shining with such an obvious lie.

_"So empty..." _He clenched his chest.

He turned his eyes away and walked past them too. The idea was unpleasant, he had been unable to find a good seat. It didn't help that he was late. Now he had to sit in the rear and he was hesitant to do that. For some reason, he felt that his eyesight had gone worse after months of looking at the computer screen.

Quite nervously, he moved to the last row and there, just at the corner, he found a vacant spot. He smiled with relief, moving with heavy steps towards his dear desk.

He couldn't see the face of person who was right next to him.

_Head tossed down on the desk. Pink hair._

"So glad..." Gray uttered as he hugged his desk. Anyone would do that after bearing so much hardships.

Looking at the board from there, he could clearly see it. He sighed in relief. For some reason, he had stripped again. Everyone was looking oddly at him, making him conscious of his actions.

"Tch. So loud... Why are you stripping in the mid of class?" He heard a lazy voice, overly familiar.

As the person raised his head, his eyebrows bowed into an arc.

For a moment, his heart stopped breathing. His mouth opened with surprise. His eyes met with the pinkette's who was showing the very same surprise now.

For there sat the very same_ dragon slayer _who had_ betrayed _him.

"You... You..." Gray repeated confusingly, not knowing what to say.

Express his disgust to the man who was the cause of his current condition? Or just remain quiet and face the reality?

"What? It's just you..." The pinkette pressed his teeth.

"Natsu..."

"I am going back to sleep." Natsu said quietly.

"Hey, at least answer me back!" Gray uttered loudly.

"_Betrayer_."

One word, that's all he heard. but the effect was intense enough to tear apart his heart. The ice mage clicked his tongue.

"Well, sorry for being in the same class as you. Man, this is going to be one shitty year." Gray said out loudly.

"Same here." The flame-breather replied quietly.

His eyes grew wider. Maybe, it was wrong of him to expect something from him. Not that he was in any place to do that when_ he_ was being rude with his former fellow as well.

_"Really. This is going to be the worst year ever... Why always me?" _Gray though to himself, a painful smile on his face.

* * *

**xxx**

_1:30 PM_

The bell rang and the class was over. Heaps of student started to prepare their bags and moved outside. Gray did the very same.

Although there wasn't a lot of activity involved, just some introductions and a guide on their new college life, he still felt tired. How to spend an ideal college life, some magic tutorials and other_ blah blah blah._ He didn't care about that so throughout the day, he continued staring outside the window. After all, his seat was the main character's seat, right next to the window. He could already feel a main character arising in himself, or so he saw in all the anime he watched.

The entire day, neither Natsu talked to him, nor he omitted a word. Occasionally he felt like apologizing to his eternal rival and ending it all. But then his ego would overtake him, saying he isn't the only one at fault but the flame thrower is equally guilty of the crime. Now the day has ended and nothing could be done.

Natsu had left without saying a word. Just like he always did.

He walked at a slow pace, yawning back and forth.

Finally, he reached near his bus. Just when he was going to hop on, he saw the pinkette jump on another bus. The college offered four buses for all the junior and senior students.

"So that's why I couldn't see him earlier in the bus..." Gray said softly.

"Not that I care!" His facial expressions grew fierce as he moved in. On seeing his friends, he sighed and started to move towards them. He missed them, he knew but not that their facial expressions, they were still emitting a scary aura.

He reached near them, bowing intensely.

"Guys! Please forgive me for being so rude to you guys..!" He spoke loudly.

"Now finally you are talking." Erza smiled.

"But that won't do, Gray. Bow on your knees." Mira ordered mischievously.

"Mira-san...!" Gray looked at the older mage with "take-mercy-on-me" eyes.

"Mira, why don't we forgive him already?" Levy sweat-dropped.

_"Levy-chan...!" _Gray looked at the solid script mage with eyes of gratitude.

"If Levy says so..." Gajeel scratched his cheek.

_"Thanks for capturing his heart, Levy!" _

"It's not like I did for Levy or anything, got it?!" Gajeel howled at the ice mage.

"Why are you shouting at me?" Gray acted the straight man.

"Yeah, I feel sorry for him too.." Lisanna added.

_"Lisanna...!"_

"Forgiveness is _man_!" Elfman roared.

_"No, it's not!" _

"Gray-sama, don't worry. Juvia will do a good job persuading Mira-san too!" Juvia looked at Gray with puppy dog eyes.

_"If anything you will ruin it." _

_"Erza?" The demon mage looked at the re-equip mage as if asking her opinion._

_The redheaded female nodded._

"Okay, If you guys say so." Mira said with a flat face.

"Really?!" Gray rejoiced.

"But only on one condition." Mira smiled gracefully. And this meant only one thing.

_"Oh boy, I got a bad feeling about it..."_

"W-what is it?"

"Just come with us after we reach our home." She winked at him.

Now he really had a bad feeling about it.

"Mira, go easy on him!"

Not that he could relax. Wait, when ever he could relax with his friends anyways? They always would be planning something stupid and tag him along in it.

But in his heart, he was content. He was grateful that his friends were stupid, only they could cheer up a gloomy guy like him. If he compared the rest of the day and his current time with them, he would definitely prefer the latter.

As he was busy in thought, his eyes landed at the rear-view mirror, right in front of the bus driver. While there was nothing wrong with the mirror, there was something wrong with his eyes.

He was pretty sure he saw something like,

_The very same blonde hair which he felt, he saw in the morning._

It looked like a girl but he wasn't sure as it all occurred in a split-second. Just when his eyes landed on that face, someone in front blocked his view and all he could do was curse that guy.

He felt that she was smiling but then again, he wasn't sure. Disappointed, he rested his elbow on the small space near the window. He started staring outside the window, pondering about something.

What happened to him all along, what he was going through at the moment and what was about to happen.

For a moment, he smiled softly, and not just any grin or smirk.

_"It would be good... if something good happens in this bus."_

_Something like fate..." _

_"Just kidding...!"_ His eyes turned down as he passed a rough hand through his hair, listening to the cheerful conversations of his friends.

His gaze softened as the bus advanced ahead, leaving all the greenery and the tall trees behind. In a distant horizon, a star shone with all its might. It was a daytime shooting star, and maybe, it had heard this wish of the ice mage.

* * *

**xxx**

_._

"I'm home..." Gray said lazily as he stepped inside his house._ Home sweet home._

"Welcome back!" Ur welcomed her son.

"Where are Lyon and Ultear?" He asked as he took off his shoes.

"Oh, they were late from college. Detained, maybe?" The older ice mage laughed.

"That's just like them." He stated as he started to ascend the staircase, leading to his room.

"Aren't you gonna have lunch?" Ur questioned worriedly.

"Nah, I just had with friends."

_"And one costly one."_

"You look tired. Have a shower and take rest. Don't worry, I will wake you up for dinner." Ur said gently but loudly.

"Sure, thanks mum."

The ice mage lay on his bed, sighing heavily.

"That Mira! of all the things I thought, she asked me to take them for the most expensive meal I could afford... Now I am broke." He mumbled grumpil_y._

He had set a new record today, a record for_ "The Worst Day In My Life."_

He was late. His friends treated him roughly (not that they were wrong.)

He couldn't find a single familiar face. Except a certain packet of _Nuts, f_or whom he didn't care a bit. Seemed like, he got separated from all his former classmates.

And the worst - His body parts hurt, months without doing any proper exercise had left him out of shape.

If anything, he had a faint image of something - Blonde hair to be exact. He saw it at least twice, or at least felt like he did. But he couldn't get to see the person at all.

_"Maybe it was a goddess..."_

He did have a feel that it was a girl and not a guy - Intuition at its best.

"Arghhhh! So frustrating! So frustrating! So_—" _He flailed around._  
_

He was so busy in his incantations that he couldn't hear some voices. Some terrifyingly_ scary_ voices.

"GRAY! WILL YOU STOP THAT AND COME DOWN FOR DINNER ALREADY? I HAVE CALLED YOU LIKE 100 TIMES NOW!" His mother screamed angrily.

"It's that time already?!"

"I-I'm coming..." He answered loudly, somewhat scared.

"SERIOUSLY ALL OF MY KIDS! THEY ARE SO UNRELIABLE. JUST WHEN YOU THINK THEY GROW UP TURNS OUT THEY DON'T AND—" And she carried on her lecture.

Being a mother was tough, Gray thanked repeatedly to God for making him a man instead or else, he would be turning everything into havoc.

As he descended down, he saw his siblings right across the table.

"Gray! Were you alright? The first day, must have been tough, right?" Lyon asked worriedly.

Just in time, Ultear elbowed Lyon, throwing him back and started showering their younger brothers with questions in his place.

"Don't care about this guy. More importantly, was class okay? Not any scary guys, right? What about the bus? Is it uh- cozy?"

As both siblings continued showering their blessings on the raven-haired mage, his anger meter rose considerably. All the events which he had gone through during the same, passed through his head, making his face boil with annoyance.

Not only his friends poor behavior, but that flame pea showed up too. There, they did it. The safe limit had been crossed successfully.

"WILL YOU TWO GIVE ME A BREAK!" His tone was hard. And loud. Too loud.

In a matter of seconds, the room went quite. Lyon eye-dropped. Ultear went into a shock. Ul just sighed.

And now, the siblings were trembling in a corner of room.

While Gray quietly ate his favorite hamburger along with his mother, still in a bad mood.

All his siblings could do was, sob and yell,

_"Just who possessed our cute little brother?!"_

_._

_._

_._

**_August 29_**

_"Today so much happened. Although, most of it was unpleasant, I was still glad that I was making progress. At this rate, I might be able to close the previous chapter of his book and finally move on to the next. If that were to happen, how lucky I would be..."_

_[To Be Continued...]_

* * *

**Writer's Corner**

_Oh God, I am finally done with this chapter. I am happy with how it turned out. It was a balanced chapter I think. It had slice of life moments, comedy moments, bittersweet moments, sad moments..._

_Troll chapter title is troll, and I hope it trolled you as well xD I wonder who is there with blonde hair :p It's gendbend Sting! Okay, just kidding. I am sorry for not introducting Lucy this chap. either properly, I plan to do that next chapter so please kindly wait ;)_

_**Please, please review and tell me if you liked this chapter or not. Any suggestions are welcome ^^**_


	5. Can We Call It Fate?

Chapter 4 is up. I know this story is very slow-paced, I know you guys waited a lot just for Gray and Lucy to meet. For those people, a happy news - the real story begins starting this chapter. Thanks for your patience ^^

* * *

**Chapter 4**

_Can We Call It... Fate?_

_August 30_

_._

_"He was standing somewhere, somewhere empty. A deserted landscape perhaps? There was nothing, no trees, no buildings, no people. There was just him and a certain someone. Someone emitting fire out of their mouth, someone whom he wasn't able to recognize well but felt its presence to be overly familiar. He had an ice sword in his hands and he was fighting with it. Then the world around him turned into flames, as he kept fighting against the monster. Fighting and fighting until he could do no more. The monster drew close to him._

_Nearer, nearer and nearer._

_Then he heard it howl, saw it clench its fist and aim for his chest as if it were going to rip his heart out._

_._

The ice maker woke up with one swift movement, his face sweating cold droplets. He kept breathing heavily, as he reached for his forehead and wiped it with his bare hand.

_"A nightmare..." _

He sighed with relief, at least he was safe. Pondering about the events of the previous day and also of the dream, he felt pangs of guilt.

_"Natsu..."_

And he thought he was over it. In a way, the the flame-breather stood correct on his statement. He really was a _half-hea__rted bastard_ as he said, he could see that when he put himself in the pinkette's shoes. He knew that Natsu always gave it his all, whether he was having a fun brawl with him or just with anyone. And here, he was, never giving it all. He might even have held back in one of their brawls, and this might have angered the pink-haired mage.

He understood it, he really did. He was just stubborn for his own good.

_"I am sorry..."_

The ice maker lowered down his head as the feelings of his wrongdoing continued to pester him, leaving him alone in a sea of nothing but negative feelings.

* * *

**_x_**

"Gray, are you sure not having breakfast today?" Ur inquired worriedly.

"Yeah mom." He replied casually putting on his shoes.

"But son, you might feel sick."

"Or get a headache." Ultear butted in.

"At worst, you may faint." Lyon overreacted.

The ice maker turned to look at his overprotective siblings, they just stood there, waiting for him to growl back at them (like he normally did) but nothing came, he just kept glaring at him with those icy cold eyes. Gray just quietly walked through the door, saying his greetings.

"Is it just me or Gray is ten times angrier today?" Ultear muttered with shock.

"To think such a day would arrive..." Lyon sniffed, dropped to the ground.

_And the drama kept on for the next fifteen minutes._

"You guys... you have school, don't you?!" Ur popped a vein, grabbing them by their shoulders.

"Yikes. We got late again today!" They both said at the same time.

"Seriously, only at times likes you guys are in unison..." Ur grumbled, as she reached for the nearest sandal and threw it at them.

And then they ran away to catch the bus, before their mom wrecked them any further.

* * *

_**x**_

"Umm... Erza..." Levy whispered.

"What Levy?" Erza stated with a straight face.

"By any chance... Do you know what is wrong with Gray?" The blunette asked, squinting her eyes at the ice maker.

"No idea. " Erza replied, eyes closed.

"He has been sitting by the window seat in a bad mood for a while now..."

"What you say?" Erza opened her eyes with some intensity.

"You didn't notice?" The solid script mage stated.

"Now that I look..."

"Lately Erza's eyes have been _wandering_ here and there a lot." Mira joined the conversation, smiling devlishly.

The redhead flinched.

"What do you mean, nee-san?" Lisanna said innocently.

"You know Lisanna, there is this handsome guy who sits in the front-"

"Its not that I was looking at Jellal!" Erza yelled, practically standing up from her seat.

Of course, this acquired the Titania some unwanted attention, including one from the said blue-haired mage.

.

One moment later. She realized everyone was looking at her.

.

Two moments later, She realized _he_ was looking at her, too.

.

Third moment and the redhead successfully turned red from head to toe.

.

.

.

"Ro-man-tic~" Juvia emphasized, her fangirl mode turned on.

There, it was the finishing blow. The unbeatable Erza Scarlet was defeated and not a single spell had to be cast.

"I mean... He is just a c-childhood friend of mine and we-used-to-hangout-a-lot-then-something-happened-and-we-stopped-talking-not-that-I-want-us-to-talk-again!" Erza mumbled quickly, chugging at her own words. Not that anyone understood her.

"Ahh Calm down, Erza-ne!" Lisanna said, petting the older mage's back.

"I want to be childhood friends with Gray-sama too~" Juvia squealed.

"Wait- childhood friends? And you actually understood what she was saying?" Levy stated, astonished.

"Childhood friends are _man_!" Elfman roared.

"Elf-nee should just shut up." Lisanna scowled.

As the rest of her comrades kept arguing, a demon mage sat on the side, throughout pleased with the situation. Or so was evident from her 'gentle-smiley-smile' face.

Gray looked at his stupid friends one moment, and at the female demon the moment. Not wanting to bother, he just span his eyes in a half-circular motion and continued staring outside the window.

As for the redhead, she kept chanting a certain sentence in her head.

_"He is so gonna hate me now. He is so gonna hate now. He is so gonna-" _

And the incantation didn't get over until they reached their destination.

* * *

**x**

The ice maker trudged through the corridor, his body parts aching. He couldn't get much sleep last night, his new routine really had him in a bind. Taking his friends to a restaurant hadn't done good both to him and _his pocket._

He reached near the classroom, movements still sluggish. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and walked past the classmates who were eyeing at him with strange eyes.

_Maybe, it was because he stripped in the class yesterday? _

At any rate, this wasn't a good development. He could feel the slight nervousness gushing through his body as he quickened his pace.

The attention on him lessened, and he just had to sigh with relief. He casually laid down with his arms around around his shoulders as he glanced at the fire mage sitting next to him. Strangely, the pinkette was looking at him, too but on noticing the mutual contact of eyes, turned away, scowling.

"Don't look at me or else my luck will run out." Natsu said curtly.

And he just had to sigh.

To apologize or not, he considered. Not that could have done any good. After all, he had no plans to get rid of his unenthusiastic ways. Knowing Natsu wouldn't compliment that, he just decided to shut up. Besides, he still had his mighty pride which wouldn't let him bow.

And as he heard footsteps, he turned his attention to the board. The first class of day was starting soon.

Their homeroom teacher was Gildarts Clive, a famous mage and teacher whom Natsu admired a lot since his childhood. Maybe, that's why he had decided to join this school? He looked at the flame-head who kept having fun throughout the class, his face was beaming with excitement as he took the lectures excitedly. Somehow, this maddened him.

"Tch. How can you have fun when I am suffering so much..." He talked to himself.

Anyways, what tough luck that they had ended up in the same class. Just when he thought he could move on, suddenly he couldn't and it was all the flame-head's fault. Funny thing was, he couldn't even blame him.

_It was his fault. Yeah, it was just him._

"Gray Fullbuster!"

He heard a powerful voice, strong enough to wake him up from his daydreaming and cause him to stand straight up like an arrow. He looked up to see who it was, and there he found another well-known mage and teacher who was infamous for his tyranny. _Laxus Dreyar. _

"I have been calling you for 10 minutes now. You have wasted 10 minutes of my class, do you understand that?" The said person spoke loudly, his voice sending shivers through the ice maker's spine.

"Y-yes sir..." He stated nervously.

"Speak louder!"

_"Damn it... Why it has to be me?"_

He thought as he looked around, finding everyone laughing and smiling mockingly at him. His mental state took a turn to a worse as he stared continuously at the ground.

_"I don't want to have anything with this world... I am just a half-hearted otaku who doesn't give his all to anything. Just leave me in the corner and I wouldn't mind." _He bit his lower lip.

"Yes sir...!" He spoke a bit louder than before, using all the energy he had left within him.

And then his ears flinched.

.

_"Hey isn't he a bit..."_

_"Yeah kind of a... loser."_

_"Pfft. Man don't, I will feel bad for him."  
_

_"But he really is-"_

_._

He heard whispers. He heard chuckles. He heard everything.

But he couldn't do anything, he couldn't even turn his head up anymore. His mind had frozen and so did his heart.

Suddenly, he realized that he had forgotten to check out _his_ reaction. He expected the fire mage to react the same. No, he was ready for worst. Maybe, he will spoil his secret to anyone and tell everyone how uncool he is.

_"Laugh at me, Natsu! I am pathetic and I deserve this much."_ He cursed himself.

But as he turned his heard, his eyes widened. The fire mage wasn't even grinning, let alone laughing. Rather he kept a stoic demeanor, looking at him with those fierce eyes. He found his gaze burning through his very being and this... terrified him.

_"What the- isn't that even worse..."_

"Quiet!" The teacher's voice echoed across the room.

The noises turned into rustles and then, even that disappeared.

"Listen, this is my last warning to you." Laxus told Gray.

_"Hah, that stripper deserves this much." _The ice maker heard another voice.

Laxus squinted.

"Of course, this means all of you. Don't even think of day dreaming in my class or else."

He closed his eyes, as everyone looked at the lightning mage fearfully. The next moment, they heard a loud thud, his fist had left a dent on the board. The students gulped at the fiery expression of their demonic teacher and lost all of their cockiness.

"Sit down, Gray. Be careful next time."

"Yes." Gray stated as his body felt powerless. He plopped down on his seat, cold sweating emitting from all of his body parts.

It took him a few seconds to gain his senses back but he didn't dare look away from the board this time.

He hadn't felt this humiliated in his life.

He hadn't been this ridiculed before.

He felt the worst. He just wanted to reach him, drop on his bed and never wake up.

Maybe, he will do the world a favor by never showing his face to anyone. This wasn't even at halfhearted level anymore, he had dropped so low that he couldn't face himself, his own face.

Or so he felt.

_"If only I could turn back time..." _He pondered upon unlikely scenarios, his heart blackening, just like the color of lead.

* * *

**x**

Never in his life, he had felt this much relief on hearing the bell.

He walked slowly to the bus, still lost in thought. More like, he couldn't even think anymore. He just wanted to teleport away to his house, no, to _his room. _Even facing his family felt troublesome at this point.

"Sup Gray!" Gajeel cheered, as he slammed the ice mage's back.

He lost his balance and nearly fell.

"Sorry..." Gray muttered, as he rose and hopped on to the bus, not even bothering to wipe the dust from his pants.

"Wha-That should be my line.." Gajeel uttered confusingly, stroking the back of his head.

"Gajeel! What happened?" Levy shouted, arriving from behind.

"Dunno. What's wrong with that dude..." He mumbled.

"He is still upset..." She said sadly.

"He needs to eat some iron and cheer up." He joked in an attempt to cheer up the solid script mage.

But his effort didn' bear fruit as the blunette facial expression remained the same.

"Gray!"

They heard Erza's voice from inside.

"I am alright. I really am."

"But-"

"Sorry, I need some time alone." Gray said slowly, his face darkened.

"I... I got it." Erza replied calmly and walked away from his path.

"...Thanks." Gray uttered, as he dropped on his seat.

Erza followed and stood next to the open corner.

"At least let me sit with you." She uttered worriedly.

"Sorry Erza. I just want to be alone..." He whispered.

"If you say so." She stated as she moved away, her facial expression showing the very same concern. She told others not to disturb Gra and they followed after their leader.

He was glad he had just understanding friends and he was glad that Erza was respected among the students (hence no one disturbed him) They were all so stupid, always involved in dumb activities, always so energetic.

They were so warmhearted, totally unlike him.

"I don't deserve such good friends..." He mumbled as he felt his eyelids so heavy that he couldn't help but place his head on the front-seat.

.

_"Where am I?" He questioned himself._

He was soaring through the space. In a vacuum perhaps. Everything felt so empty, so void. There was no one, just him. It was just him and all of his worries and troubles and everything else was disappearing. If he was here, no one could interfere him. He could mourn all he wanted, scream as deafeningly he could manage. No one would hear him, no one would see his uncool self. Yeah, it would be just him and his fears. No one in between. It felt calming and soothing to him.

_It felt soothing, yet it felt lonely. _

Why? When he doesn't want anyone to listen his issues, his concerns, then why did his heart hurt?

_Why it felt so... suffocating._

"I don't want it..."

_He tried to open his eyes but couldn't._

"I know I am selfish. I know I walk on other peoples' feeling. I never give it my all. I never trust anyone. But still."

_He rolled his fist as veins popped up on his forehead._

"I want someone."

_He looked up, spotting a glorious light. It was so maddeningly bright that he couldn't help but close his eyes._

"Someone who can understand me without me saying anything..."

_Then he felt something._

"Someone who just reads my mind without me muttering a single word... Someone who can tell the way of my heart and knock some sense into my brain."

__He turned his head, eyes still closed as his ears heard a soothing music. It felt so distant yet so familiar, just like a lullaby. It penetrated through his body, his soul. He felt like, he was being healed.__

"If by any tiniest possibility..."_  
_

_He slowly opened his eyes, wrinkles disappearing. There he saw someone, an angel dressed in white robe._

"Someone like that really existed."

_Her golden hair swaying in the meadow breeze, her porcelain features glistening underneath the bright light._

"I would think it as fate and..."

_And then she smiled. Smiled __such a dazzling one that he found himself dumbfounded._

_._

"Excuse me, can I sit here?" A girl's voice reached his ears.

"Fall in love..." He whispered, half-sleeping.

The girl before him got surprised at such odd choice of words, something which caused him to stop functioning. _Could it be that he just said this aloud? _

_"Not again."_ He clicked his tongue.

And then he heard the girl to chuckle, just what he expected — A horrible reaction. His eyes widened a little as he gawked at the _rude girl._ Oh yeah, she was just like anyone, wasn't she?—Beauty without a personality. Throwing salt on his wounds, he had enough of that.

"What's with-"

Just when he was going to burst, he heard something unexpected.

"I'm sorry for laughing. Its just that you were sleep-talking with your shirt off." She pointed out, trying to hold back her laughter.

He freaked out, and quickly reached for his shirt. Putting it on within a second, breaking his own record. He had never dressed up this quickly. Never ever.

"You are a weird one." She mocked him, and he felt bewildered.

"So what if I am..." He stated dryly.

"I meant, you are interesting." She beamed at him, and he forgot to breath for moment.

"... Is that so?" He replied, a bit taken aback.

"_That is so._" She stated jokingly, winking at him as she took a seat next to him - another thing which he wasn't ready for.

"Who said you can sit here anyways?"

"There were no seats and your friend, Erza, right? She told me that I should talk with you in case I want to sit here." She explained clearly.

"And I never granted that." He stated grumpily.

This time she didn't reply, instead kept a calm expression.

And suddenly he felt the worst, talking so crudely to someone who was actually trying to hold a conversation with him despite being a stranger. No one had did that ever since he stepped into his new life, she wasn't as _bad_ as he thought she would be. But he knew, like others, she wouldn't be able to understand him. _He was just impossible to read,_ he gritted at the thought.

The ice maker glanced at her and found her staring at him—Observing her to be precise, catching him off-guard another time.

"Listen, its rude-"

"You just had a tough experience, didn't you?" She muttered as she reached near him, placing her warm hand over his head.

"Even when you have friends, you think no one understands you. You want to trust others but you can't. A part of you is reluctant, it holds you back. You don't want anyone to be jealous of you so you don't give it your all." She explained his true feelings to him and he couldn't help but gape.

"You are a nice guy, Gray." She looked at him affectionately. His orbs widened as he wondered about the girl who was giving him shock after shock. _Just who she was?_ He had never met anyone like her.

_"There,_ there. You went through a lot." She chirped, her hand ruffling through his dark hair. He barely succeeded in his effort to stop his tears. Why was she the one who was telling the words he wanted to hear since eternity.

He gazed at her carefully, his eyes travelling all the distance from her bright yellow strands to her chocolate brown eyes, the neat features and white skin.

And then the realization hit him, it was the same girl he dreamed about earlier.

_Alike hair. Identical features. Same smile. _

The angel he was in search for all along, he just had a feeling it was her.

"Just who are you..." He mumbled breathlessly.

"That is a secret~" She muttered emphatically, waving her finger around and drew back.

_Confused. Perplexed. Baffled. _The ice maker was at a loss of words.

"Like I will take your crap-"

She just giggled, and placed her finger on his lips.

"Can't be helped, I will become your strength." She uttered seriously, a mysterious twinkle in her eyes. And then she smiled once again.

And he thought, he lacked the ability to reply her back.

She really was a strange girl, who was helping him in her own odd ways and wasn't even demanding in her return. The stranger fact was, he couldn't doubt her even if he tried to. The mysteriousness had him in a bind. He was totally enchanted by her.

Nothing was said afterwards, yet so much was understood. Her actions were pure of any harm. If it was her, then he could entrust himself to her. If it was her then he could forget everything and move on.

Even if it was a dream. Even if none of it was reality. He wouldn't mind being fooled at all if it was her.

Maybe it was really fate.

"It would be great if I fall in love with you in the future..." He murmured, pretending to gaze out of the window.

"Did you say something?" She asked curiously.

"Nothing..." He said quietly, trying to hide the faint blush.

Her attention gradually weakened, maybe she got bored. She put out a book from her bag, placed it on her lap and started reading.

The ice maker dropped on the front-seat head again, unable to control himself. His eyes wrinkled as he reflected upon the day, he would probably probably remember it as the '_best day of his life'_ in the future (despite most of it being horrible)

He pretended to sleep, but was actually peeking at the blonde through the spaces between his fingers. Her straight back, the way she tucked her hair behind her ears, the graceful style - It really had him at awe.

And he couldn't help but consider his words again.

_"If this is fate, if you are an angel sent by God to save me..."_

_"Then I really might fall for you..."_

* * *

**_x_**

**August 30**

_We met for the first yet, yet she was able to knock me down completely. It was a complete loss on my part, I was shocked... in a pleasant way. From the one, s__he taught me about love, trust, sincerity and so many other feelings I had forgotten long since._

_This was the first I was able to trust a person completely, I even surprised myself. I never thought I would be able to think positive again but you made it happen. Thinking back, I am really thankful it was **you **and not any other person. _

_._

_._

_._

_[To Be Continued...]_

* * *

**_Writer's Corner_**

Okay, I am finally done with this chapter, I ended up making it extra-long and wow, it is evening her now xD

So this was Gray and Lucy's first interaction, and Gray is already attracted to Lucy. He hasn't trusted anyone in his life so far, and finally he met a _'transparent person'_ who he can understand his inner thought. Doesn't mean rest of his friends aren't his real friends, Lucy is just able to understand him better.

Lucy is really mysterious here, right? I made this her way knowing it. Don't worry, there is a reason why she understands Gray so well. Look forward to find out (though I am not sure when I will reveal it xD)

Have fun reading and please **review** :)


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